tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698059.post115747154471980012..comments2016-09-08T09:42:42.288-04:00Comments on The Mumpsimus: A Prolegomenon to the Reading of Some Books Labeled YAMatthew Cheneyhttps://plus.google.com/109233497006166204043noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698059.post-1157662530779816652006-09-07T16:55:00.000-04:002006-09-07T16:55:00.000-04:00If you're interested in the creation of an adolesc...If you're interested in the creation of an adolescent voice, Matt, you might want to read David Mitchell's <I>Black Swan Green</I>, unless you already have. It could almost be YA, and Mitchell's use of metaphor is particularly unusual as means of building voice: often deliberately clunky or trite to show the uneven development of Jason's adolescent poetic voice.Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13770069472552779217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698059.post-1157651513013434292006-09-07T13:51:00.000-04:002006-09-07T13:51:00.000-04:00Jeff:Read "Here There Be Dragons" by James Owen. O...Jeff:<BR/><BR/>Read "Here There Be Dragons" by James Owen. Only one of the characters is a teenager - the others are all grown men and women. James isn't sure why S&S felt it would sell better to YAs then adults, but that's the the direction they are going in. I reviewed it this month in my YA Column at Bookslut. It's a great adventure story and will appeal particularly to SFF fans (you'll understand why when you start reading).<BR/><BR/>I also just finished "Bloodlines" by Kate Carey for my October column. It's an update on the Dracula myth - it begins in the trenches during WWI. There are no teens at all in this book (the main character is 20 and a soldier as the story begins). If you like Dracula then you will really enjoy it - quite gritty and dark and a solid read. (There are no sexy vamps in black leather here!)Colleenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13765245719145018564noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698059.post-1157568401399284052006-09-06T14:46:00.000-04:002006-09-06T14:46:00.000-04:00I just realized a very simple reason why I don't r...I just realized a very simple reason why I don't read much young or young adult literature. Because I have the perception that most of it features children or teens as the protagonists. And I really don't like reading books with children or teens as protagonists. Just a personal, subjective thing. It doesn't mean I don't think YA, etc., can't be literature.<BR/><BR/>So, is my perception wrong? And if so, any recommendations? (And I don't say Lanagan--already read her.)<BR/><BR/>JeffVAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698059.post-1157528459774470842006-09-06T03:40:00.000-04:002006-09-06T03:40:00.000-04:00I'm interested to see what you think of Black Tatt...I'm interested to see what you think of <I>Black Tattoo</I>. I had hoped to include it in my column at Bookslut but was disappointed and elected not to review it. Too many cliches for me - but that's just me and I look forward to your thoughts.<BR/><BR/>I also have <I>Drowned Maiden's Hair</I> on deck although I don't think I'll get to it for another month or so.<BR/><BR/>One recent YA book I did love is <I>Here There Be Dragons</I> by James Owen. If you want to read a great adventure story when you are done with this, be sure to grab it.Colleenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13765245719145018564noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698059.post-1157522408188231202006-09-06T02:00:00.000-04:002006-09-06T02:00:00.000-04:00I had the same quizzical feeling you did, Ben, wit...I had the same quizzical feeling you did, Ben, with Kermode's examples -- and we could easily pull phrases from <I>A Portrait of the Artist</I> that don't seem particularly different in their "adultness" or whatever. (I cite that simply because Kermode held it up as an exemplar.) I should clarify, though, that Kermode was writing about a memoirist attempting (apparently) to express his child-self via his adult-self, so he wasn't writing YA per se.<BR/><BR/>As for reader expectation, if I seemed to be generalizing far beyond my own experience, I don't mean to. I think reader expectation can play a large part in how a text is experienced, but I don't think any one particular type of writing has more claim to that than another, simply because there are more readers, and so more possibility for variability, than there are types of writing. (So far. Until the taxonomists manage to finally determine not only that every piece of writing inhabits its own particular label, but that every reader brings a unique label to every piece of writing.) My own experience of YA has been one of having what now seem to me unreasonable expectations for a broad group of novels that, beyond being novels written in English, had little more than marketing in common. Those expectations affected a lot of how I approached the books, and not, in hindsight, in a fair way.<BR/><BR/>Haven't read <I>The Accidental</I> yet, though I did try to get it from the library a couple months ago (it was out). At this point, I'm not going to have time until January or February, alas, though I very much want to read it.Matthew Cheneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07704529564308222004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698059.post-1157497412036814942006-09-05T19:03:00.000-04:002006-09-05T19:03:00.000-04:00I think you might be overestimating the need for e...I think you might be overestimating the need for expectation management a little, or at least, you seem to be implying that it implies more to YA than to other literature, and I'm not sure that necessarily follows. Will be interested on your thoughts on the Anderson in particular, since I've been meaning to read something by [him|her] for a while.<BR/><BR/>On the creation of childish voice -- have you read <EM>The Accidental</EM> by Ali Smith yet? I think one of the characters in that is a brilliant example of the type.Niall Harrisonhttp://vectoreditors.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698059.post-1157488593012842812006-09-05T16:36:00.000-04:002006-09-05T16:36:00.000-04:00While I've read things from a YA perspective that ...While I've read things from a YA perspective that *do* feel imposed, it is, as you say, a matter of the contextualising... people used to argue the same thing about Dawson's Creek, and, whether you like the show or not, I always thought it was kinda missing the point... verisimmilitude and believability don't have to be the same thing...<BR/><BR/>I must admit the quoted passage above confused me... how in the world is someone "making a face" an imposition of the adult writer? I was aware of that phrase in about grade two! Or a lamp buzzing?! By saying that teenagers are incapable of thinking beyond things squishing the author underestimates YA readers by about ten years, I think...Ben Paynehttp://benpayne.livejournal.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698059.post-1157487209688195142006-09-05T16:13:00.000-04:002006-09-05T16:13:00.000-04:00Conversely, I'm reading RUMO by Walter Moers and e...Conversely, I'm reading RUMO by Walter Moers and enjoying it immensely. It's, I feel, children's lit. for adults. Moers seems to have an adult audience in mind, but delightfully playful sensibilities. A bit like Douglas Adams channeling Stepan Chapman or something. Really good stuff.<BR/><BR/>JeffVJeffVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06729084138172908138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698059.post-1157485705070951392006-09-05T15:48:00.000-04:002006-09-05T15:48:00.000-04:00You might want to check out this thread I started ...You might want to check out this thread I started on NightShade: http://www.nightshadebooks.com/discus/messages/378/6901.html?1157485265Spencernoreply@blogger.com